NOW that relations are improving with Iran, a Worcester commercial lawyer is recommending that Worcestershire companies take advantage.

Ifzal Akhtar of QualitySolicitors Parkinson Wright said the international move represented "a welcome opportunity for international companies wanting to do business with an economy that has an 80m population of which 64 per cent is below the age of 35".

He added: "Iran has a highly skilled labour workforce and the auto sector is the country’s second-largest industry after oil. Crucially, it employed more than 700,000 factory workers. But the economic landscape of the country has been seriously affected by the sanctions. The country’s banking sector particularly suffered with conventional and Islamic finance deal flows drying up. The country’s infrastructure now requires upgrading with an estimated $1 trillion worth of infrastructure development programmes earmarked for the next decade. The country’s hospitality sector has also been adversely affected. Iran’s oil wealth and output potential is well known but due to sanctions it has been unable to enjoy the associated benefits. The country will now play catch-up with its GCC and Asian neighbours.

"Iran’s banking sector before the sanctions accounted for more than 40 percent of the world’s total Islamic banking assets. The sanctions seriously affected the country’s banking system and now post sanctions it will be playing catch up with its structure and operation of its neighbours. Unlike its GCC and Pakistani neighbours, the country’s Islamic finance sector is based upon a Shia interpretation of Islamic theology. It has been argued that the Shia interpretation is more liberal than the model adopted by the mainstream Sunni school of Islamic thought. As a result Iran is uniquely placed in the Islamic world to attract investment and capital flow which the strict Sunni interpretation will not allow. This is good news for investors looking to invest in the sometimes over-subscribed bond markets of the GCC."